The grandmother of slaying victim Cameron Canada forgave his killer, Samuel Perez, before a judge sentenced him to 50 years in prison on Friday.

Paulette Douglas told a stunned Perez that Canada's death has had a "horrible affect" on the family, but that does not mean she is happy to see Perez go to prison for half a century.

"I forgive you and I want you to know that if nobody on this earth cares about you, that God does," Douglas said during a victim impact statement. "I hate to see young people's lives taken away."

Prosecutors said that Perez, 26, stabbed Canada, 21, twice in the chest during a fight that started with racial slurs outside a house party on July 22, 2012.

"There is nothing you can give him that will come close to what he took away -- someone's life," Assistant District Attorney Dennis Moore said during closing arguments.

Perez was found guilty of murder on Thursday and after two hours of deliberation, a jury sentenced him to 50 years on Friday.

Perez' lawyer, Leonard Morales, told the court they will be filing an appeal.

"My client has asserted his innocence since the beginning," Morales said. "So we will be filing an appeal."

Before Perez was taken into custody, he had one last chance to hug about a dozen of his friends, some who wept during the proceedings. As the group of friends left the courtroom, they said they believed a mistrial should have been called.

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Perez' friends, which included witness Fernie Barrientos, said that members of the jury allegedly had contact with members of the Canada family on Thursday.

Morales said he could not address that allegation.

"There were a number of issues that came up during the course of the trial that we want to bring up in the appeal," Morales said. "But I'm not at liberty to discuss those issues at detail."

Closing arguments during the punishment phase were supposed to begin at 8:30 a.m. Friday. They were delayed two hours because Judge Anna Perez met with lawyers and members of the Canada family.

Morales said he does not know how long an appeal could take and is prepared for a lengthy process.

"It could take months or year, depending on a number of issues," Morales said. "It was a pretty significant trail and a complex trail."